Chapter 205 The Boss Behind the Scenes
Jeff Robinov, to ordinary people, this is a meaningless name. Even if you see it with your own eyes, you may miss it if you are not paying attention.
Just like this time.
With a simple and reserved smile, he looks like a weak scholar. He is obviously tall and muscular, and his physical strength brings visual impact, but he has no sense of presence. He is just an assistant or a thug. With a quick glance, you might easily miss it.
But in fact, he is the real power figure of Warner Bros., the top executive of the film department. Above him is CEO Barry-Meyer, the top figure in the Hollywood pyramid.
Moreover, unlike his muscular body, Jeff is an academic with a film background. He is not a producer or a director. He is an economics and finance student, but he is an avid movie lover. This makes He has professional management knowledge, rational judgment ability and rich film heritage, and can make the right choice just right.
Of course, it is now 2000, and Jeff has just taken over the film department. Warner Bros. is ambitious and wants to dominate Hollywood. Now it has placed the heavy responsibility on Jeff, but there is no way to know his ability for the time being. ——
Everything has just begun.
However, looking back from the perspective of 2023, Jeff was indeed the key to the rise and fall of Warner Bros. for two decades. His several important decisions allowed Warner Bros. to dominate the first decade of the 21st century. His resignation The departure was a turning point in Warner Bros.' troubles.
Around 2000, major film production companies tried to learn from the European film production system:
Lock the director.
In other words, they believe that the director is the soul of the film, lock in potential directors, build projects around the director, and give the director enough freedom.
This was an evolution from the producer system to the director core in the 1980s; later, after the overall rise of comic book super movies allowed film companies to take the initiative, it shifted again from the director core back to the producer system.
Jeff is an admirer of the director’s core system.
Ben Affleck, as an actor, is very bad at playing good cards; but as a director, he is prosperous, and the person standing behind him is this bald man.
In 2010, when Ben Affleck's career as an actor was at a low point, he tried to turn to directing. Jeff overcame everyone's objections and supported him in turning to directing with "The City". Later, the budget exceeded the budget and Warner Bros. refused to continue to increase the cost. Jeff still gave him the Ben Affleck's life-saving $1 million led to Ben Affleck's directorial career.
Later on "Escape from Tehran", Warner Bros. executives almost collectively opposed handing over the project to Ben. It was Jeff who turned the tide alone and insisted on handing the project over to Ben. As a result, this made "Escape" a reality. Tehran” Oscar for Best Picture.
If Ben Affleck has been in the industry for more than ten years before he won Jeff's support, he has a good background and is also a good player; then the rise of Christopher Nolan is 100% a masterpiece. Husband’s contribution.
After filming "Memento" in 2000, Christopher received a lot of praise in the industry, but after all, he was just an independent director who shot two low-budget films, with no qualifications, no connections, and no more self-esteem. prove.
However, Jeff withstood the huge pressure and not only packaged and signed the "Batman Begins" trilogy to the then fledgling Christopher; he also took the initiative and gave Christopher a five-film deal ——
This agreement guarantees that Christopher will have the creative freedom of two works in addition to the "Batman Begins" trilogy, allowing him to create the scripts and projects he wants to shoot, no matter how absurd or unbelievable the project is, Jeff Or let go of the decision-making and control of the work to Christopher——
Jeff kept his agreement.
Thus, "The Magic" and "Inception" were born.
Since then, Christopher has cooperated with Warner Bros. for twenty-two years. Until 2022, Warner Bros. shifted to a producer core system, Jeff has also resigned, and all their efforts have been put aside. On top of developing the DC Universe, Christopher left Warner Bros. for the first time.
"Oppenheimer", Christopher and Universal Pictures.
It was at Jeff's insistence that Warner Bros. established long-term cooperative relationships with a group of outstanding and stable directors. In addition to the two mentioned above, there are also - Buz-Luhrmann (Buz-Luhrmann), Todd - Todd-Philips, Zach-Snyder.
By the way, when Ang Lee was still a little-known director, Jeff was optimistic about his prospects and hoped to hand over several projects to Ang Lee to direct.
Unfortunately, from the 1990s to the first decade of the 21st century, Warner Bros.'s rejection of Asian directors was still very serious, so much so that they missed "Brokeback Mountain" and "Pi" "Life of Fantasy".
It was not until later that Jeff left Warner Bros. to set up his own studio, Studio Eight; on the other hand, he held an important position at Sony Columbia, which successfully promoted Ang Lee's cooperation and gave birth to "Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk."
It can be said that Jeff is a businessman, but he is a businessman who knows how to exercise discretion and respect talents. His indulgence of directors has brought about a series of bad consequences, such as Zack Snyder taking charge of the DC Universe, which caused controversy; but more importantly What's more, he brought a glorious decade to Warner Bros.
In the first decade after the turn of the millennium, Warner Bros. was almost unrivaled in the lead, not only in North America but also in the global film market.
Now, this bald man is standing in front of Anson, and without even waiting for Darren to introduce him, he has already taken the initiative to extend his right hand——
The production company of "Friends" is Warner Brothers.
And Darren?
Before Darren decided to produce "Sex and the City" with his own production company, he met with Warner Bros. to discuss the possibility of joining forces. Although it was unsuccessful, Darren and Jeff established a good personal relationship.
Obviously, when Anson appeared, Jeff was a stranger to Anson; but to Jeff, Anson was not.
Anson did not panic. He did not ask Darren for help. Instead, he looked at Jeff calmly and generously, held Jeff's right hand, and showed a smile.
"Wood. Anson Wood."
A self-introduction successfully made Jeff smile meaningfully, "Famous is not as good as meeting. Now I know why David is willing to take risks. ”
The subtext is...?
Is this a joke about Anson taking the back door?
Anson nodded slightly and accepted the ridicule calmly, "After all, he can't ruin his own job."
The parachute was indeed a parachute, but Anson still proved himself with strength. Convincing David Klein to take a risk ultimately paid off handsomely.
“Haha.” Jeff chuckled and nodded repeatedly, “Yes, he can’t. He can’t.”
Darren, who was standing at the other vertex of the triangle, was a little worried. After all, this was the first time Anson had ever met a behind-the-scenes boss at the level of a partial leader. Even a veteran actor who has been in the industry for many years may not be able to deal with it indifferently. But he never expected...
Once again, Anson brought a surprise.
Darren: Maybe I should be under the car.
First update.
(End of this chapter)